


out of sync from the beginning

by tencentsforadance



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M, Gen, High School AU, this was supposed to be like 1k of fluff and now it's this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-02-12 00:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2088159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tencentsforadance/pseuds/tencentsforadance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny manages to mangle his life into some warped mix of a cliched teen romcom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	out of sync from the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> title from the national "slow show"
> 
> thank you x1000000 for blithers and diaphenia for beta'ing this.

Casey breaks up with Mindy.

“It’s such a _cliché,_ Danny,” she blubbers. “You know how much I hate clichés. Like, the day before homecoming? During h-halftime? Six months was already too long, he couldn’t have waited another hour? He doesn’t even leave for Haiti for a _month._ Like? God, Danny, what the hell?”

Danny shakes his head in vehement agreement, afraid to open his mouth. If he starts talking he’s going to blurt something stupid like: “Well, I never thought you guys were good together anyway,” which she will reply, shocked and indignant, _what?_ Or he’ll end up letting her know that, yeah, her relationship just ended, but another guy is waiting in the wings for her. Which, again, _what?_

Besides they’re not exactly in the most romantic spot for a declaration of love.He’d found her stashed between an overflowing garbage bin and the boy’s restroom. He’s been trying to move her away from the stench of nacho cheese and vomit that clings to the air from the drunks, but she has resolutely stayed put, crying that she would never find love.

So he keeps patting her back, and, eventually, once he’s figured out the right words, murmurs, “He’s an ass then. Complete jerk. Who needs ‘em?”

Mindy starts moaning, “ _I_ do, Danny,” but he blows right past her.

“You don’t, Min. You’re better than some guy that’s dropping out of school to go save the world. I’m tellin’ you, it’s beyond saving anyway. Shouldn’t he be focusing on what’s wrong with _America_ , anyway? The state of this nation, I’m telling you…” he rambles off, but when Mindy starts sniffling again he refocuses. “And, you know you did pretty okay before him; you’ll survive without him too.”

Her eyes start to crinkle at the edges, but she never quite makes it to a full-fledged smile. “I just. I just really liked him, okay?”

“I know,” he replies and it’s quiet again except for her sniffling.

Eventually though when she stops crying, for real this time, he starts up again, “Besides you’ve got bigger fish to fry, Lahiri. Now you don’t have to put up with that obnoxious way he talked. Like, aye, yo girl, no one ever knows what the hell I’m saying and, yo, you know what’s tight? My fringe religion-“

“He’s a _Lutheran_ , Danny,”

“All I’m saying is that you won’t have him as a distraction from beating me by that last thousandth of a point for valedictorian.”

Finally, she breaks into a grin, giggles, and Danny’s chest unclenches a little.

“You wish, Castellano. Valedictorian is mine and you’re gonna have to face the shame of giving your sad little one minute speech, introducing me, for my _two_ minute speech.”

He reaches around her and grabs her purse to dig out a tissue while she indignantly cries out, “Rude!” but he knows that she thinks the gesture is sweet. He’s just relieved she’s calmed down.

He has so little experience with girls-especially weepy ones. He dated Christina for a year and not once did she break down in front of him. Christina absorbed each emotion, cataloged it, filed it away, and then used it for her art. She was the opposite of Mindy who felt everything to its extreme. When she found out that Josh, some douche lacrosse player from the private school across town was cheating on her, she stayed in bed for days. Danny comforting her with a punch to the shoulder and a reminder to keep her chin up did little to help.

He stands up from the filthy ground and offers her a hand. He wraps a firm arm around her shoulder as he leads her out to the parking lot, while she mutters about how unsanitary that was and how she should never stoop that low for a boy ever again. She doesn’t mention his arm so he keeps it there. It’s not weird or anything-he just. He’s reminding her that he’s there.

She drove with Casey in his fancy, new smart car he got for his seventeenth birthday to the game. He tries to gently lead her to his car, careful not to remind her of who she came here with, but his car is probably garbage in comparison. He worked all of last summer at a medical internship plus taking shifts at nights as a cook for McDonald’s for his shitty little Toyota. His cheeks flush a little, ashamed. Like, he gets it, he doesn’t have a lot of cash, he’s never even let Mindy inside his house, but Mindy flashes him a big smile, thankful for the ride, and his heart skips a couple of beats.

***

“Beer before liquor, you’ll only get sicker, don’t you know anything, Lahiri?” Morgan shouts across the kitchen island. He’s so stoned, eyes bloodshot, and his voice a couple decibels too high. He grabs the beer out of her hands and sniffs it in disgust.

“Ugh, seriously? Light beer? Let me make you a real drink. In times of heartbreak, drinking is the only way to relieve the pain. Trust me, I would know. In prison, I had to go without the drink for too long.”

Jeremy rolls his eyes, “Morgan, please, you were in juvie for three and a half days. Like you know anything about prison.”

Morgan begins to protest and Danny turns to Mindy, leaning in close next to her ear, murmuring, “You okay?” They had decided to hit up Peter’s after party for the football game.  (“This horndog needs fresh meat!” he exclaimed during lunch. Everyone groaned in disgust and Peter’s smile turned down. “My parents are out of town and I’ve got my own liquor.” He brightened again when everyone agreed to go.)

She didn’t want to go home and while Danny hated parties, he was still worried about her. She’s never had the best track records with break ups. He wanted to keep her occupied, mostly for his own safety. Danny didn’t have unlimited texting but was Mindy’s favorite person to text. If it wasn’t him, she would just rant at the dope that’d just dumped her, and get called a crazy bitch at school. Then Danny would have to knock a couple heads and it would be a big, old mess. It was easier this way.

She gives him a sweet smile and squeezes his hand quickly to reassure him. His heart might stop for a second. Then she turns back to Morgan and downs the shot he offers her smoothly.

“Shit, Lahiri!” Peter exclaims, “None of us knew you could drink.”

She finally starts to loosen up, the swelling on her cheeks going down after her crying jag and the smile on her face looks genuine and stretches ear to ear.

“Lots of things you don’t know about me, Peter. I can eat five thousand calories in one sitting,” there are a few grumbles of disgust around her, but Morgan and Betsy ‘ooo’ appreciatively, “tie a cherry stem with my tongue, _and_ hold my liquor.”

She smiles coyly and the shirt she’s wearing scoops even lower. Normally she dons bright, tacky necklaces and bracelets, goes for neon tights, or will show him the nine different ways to wear a scarf as an accessory. However, tonight she goes simple and Danny can’t look away. She picked out a tight sweater that plunges downward dangerously and jeans that ride low on her ass.

He tries to shift discreetly on the barstool (he’s seventeen years old okay, fuck you). Jesus Christ, help him.

“Hit me with another, Morgan!” she yells.

***

So Mindy’s drunk.

She claims that _yes,_ Danny, she does attend parties brimming with red solo cups and had sleepovers with Gwen and a smuggled bottle of wine. He might have believed her except she’ sloppy on two shots and a Mike’s Hard Lemonade. She’s falling and tumbling all over the place, stepping all over people’s feet, and giggling at everything.

Tamra led her out of the kitchen and they’re both shimmying along with Betsy in the living room /dance floor. It’s not the most eloquent thing in the world, but they’re all laughing, teetering in their high heels, doing cheesy disco moves and twirling in each other’s arms.

All the guys are still lingering around the kitchen island, eyeing girls, trying to get wasted. Danny’s head is thumping, but he’s still happy to be there as long as it kept Mindy out of trouble. He knew in the back of his head that there was more to it though, especially when he felt his legs start to jitter and his fist clenching around his beer just watching her dance around. Ever since he and Christina broke up, maybe even before that, the feeling that hewanted more started clenching around his heart.

Like with Christina: A date once a week was always more than enough for him; going out, getting dressed, not knowing what to do with his hands, when he was allowed to kiss her. He had a constant inner monologue going, _okay, she ordered the pasta, sixteen dollars, and should he just get the Caesar salad, ten dollars, or get pasta too? It’s weird to get the same thing, right? But is he paying tonight? Should he ask?_ They dated for almost a year and he never got better at reading signals, never got comfortable.

But when he and Mindy became friends, it was always easy. They would study at Starbucks even though it was completely overpriced, sometimes with friends, sometimes just with each other. But it was always simple, making flash cards, cracking stupid jokes. He always knew what he was supposed to do, which was just to be there. She seemed to like him just as.

He wants more than what he has: passing notes in Calc ( _Danny, let me know if that stick ever dislodges from yr butt, hearts 4ever, Min_ ), begging her to stifle her giggles in Chemistry, _Min, we’re gonna get in trouble and then we can’t be partners,_ grabbing a bite to eat after school accompanied by all their friends.

Now he could imagine it, the more of it. No matter how much he’s against PDA, the idea of giving Mindy a quick peck in between classes was too good to pass up. Or locking legs with her underneath the table at Starbucks, holding her hand in his sweaty palm at dances, saving up to take her to a nice restaurant.

Jesus Christ. He’s seventeen; he’s too young to have an ulcer. He wants to down beer after beer but he’s designated driver and he’s already had a mouthful. How much does it take to get drunk? Not gonna risk it, he decides.

His anxiety is distracted by a spin the bottle game being set up on the floor. Mindy runs over, eyes glazed, voice loud, telling all the guys they _have_  to come play, it’s going to be _so_ much fun, and, most importantly, Brendan DeLaurier is playing, ugh, who invited him anyway? and she needs to better the odds she won’t have to touch him.

The guys are all letting out moans of protest but Mindy runs straight to Danny and pleads, “Danny, _please.”_

Goddammit, he can’t say no to her.

***

They’re playing spin the bottle and Danny hasn’t been forced into puckering up with anyone besides Morgan, and, to be honest, he never thought he’d get through his life without having to kiss Morgan at least once. Most of the participants have drifted off; Morgan’s playing with Peter’s dog, giggling manically; Peter found a girl willing to hook up for the night, which was all he wanted; and Jeremy and Betsy are standing outside smiling shyly at another and whispering quietly after kissing during the game.

 Somewhere in all this Mindy ended up underneath Danny’s arm, cuddling into him, falling asleep. His eyes are starting to drift close too and he’s trying to find the energy to shake her awake when suddenly she gasps and flails upright, looking at Danny with wide, manic eyes.

“Jesus Christ, Min, what’s wrong? What’re you doin’?”

“Danny,” she whispers, close to his face, the stench of vodka harsh on her breath. “The bottle, look at the bottle.”

He leans over and finds the forgotten bottle pointed right between the middle of the two of them and shrugs.

“The bottle, Danny! The bottle is pointed right between us! Do you know what this means?”

Again, he shrugs his mind still foggy.

Suddenly, she lunges towards him, and Danny finally makes the connection like, _oh._ Her face moves closer to his and all he can think about how her lips are only left with a rim of lipstick and even though he has a fantasy of finally kissing Mindy and pulling away with her lipstick smudged all across his face, he finds he doesn’t really mind. Mindy Lahiri is about to be kissing him. Just as he’s about to try to stop his drunken friend from kissing him on the rebound, because, God, yes, he wants to- she misses the mark completely, instead vomiting on his lap.   

“Oh, Jesus,” he mutters, quickly grabbing Mindy by the arm and hauling her to her feet and towards the bathroom as everyone in the room groans loudly behind them.

He maneuvers Mindy in front of the toilet, closes the door so she can avoid the humiliation and risk the news to get back to Casey. He shucks his pants, thankful he went for boxers instead of briefs and kneels beside Mindy as she heaves, holding her hair back with one hand and gently rubbing his hand across her back, shushing her. It feels intimate, despite the fact that Mindy’s blowing chunks at the same time. He would have done the same thing for Richie, has done the same thing for him, and Mindy’s practically family, he tells himself. It’s not weird. And it would probably be more intense if Peter wasn’t banging on the door outside, freaking out, “Dudes! My parents are going to _kill_ me!”

Danny rushes up from where’s crouches and opens the door, just a slit, and whispers harshly, “Don’t be an ass, okay? Just-just go get me some pants and some mouthwash while I sort this out.” Peter grumbles about how he had better still get some sex tonight but lumbers off and returns with a pair of sweats and a bottle of Listerine.

Through the crack of the door, Peter catches a glimpse of Mindy’s head hung over the toilet and his shoulders sag. “Make sure she gets through this, all right man?” With a final thump on the shoulder he saunters off, yelling about getting this party started again.

Danny washes any leftover vomit on him and gets dressed, waiting for her to finish. Eventually she pulls up her head from the base of the toilet. Her make-up is a complete mess and her face is splotchy and red. Tears are forming in the corners of her eyes and he knows that it’s not from the force of the vomit. He’s a good friend though, the best, and he doesn’t say anything, just lets her crawl into his open arms, “Maybe I can’t handle drinking that well.”

He chuckles, but then the tears really start to flow, “God, I’m the most pathetic person in the world.”

“Well, I mean…”

She only cries harder at that (he may have to take back that best friend comment) so he backtracks, “Min. You’re not pathetic. Plenty of people get drunk and blow chunks at parties, you get that right? Especially after their douchebag boyfriend fails to realize how great and not pathetic they actually are. You think he’s gonna find a girl like you in Haiti?”

She looks up from where she buried her head in his shoulder, and Danny’s heart melts. He continues, “Someone who eases through AP Bio without outlining a single chapter? A girl who looks beautiful even with vomit in her hair? Nah, I don’t think so. He’s missing out and you’re doing the healthy, teenager thing: drinking your problems away.”

“God, you’re such an old man,” she replies, but he knows he said the right thing.

She sighs and her crying slows down, and for the second time that night, Danny draws her crying, crumpled mess from the stench of vomit.

***

He pulls his car up to the Lahiri house, the engine still running; he doesn’t want her to go.

She’s turned her entire body so she can face him. She’s bundled in his baseball letterman and she’s hugging her knees to her chest like she’s trying to make herself smaller. She doesn’t even look at him as she mumbles, “I guess…thanks for tonight, Danny.”

She turns to open the car door and Danny calls out quickly, “Hey!”

His voice is too loud, panicked; she hadn’t even taken off her seatbelt yet.

“I’ll, uh, - see you tomorrow?”

She crinkles her brow and frowns, “Tomorrow’s Saturday, Danny.”

“Yeah, but, you know…the dance?”

“God, I know people go to the dance stag and there’s nothing wrong with it but what could be more pathetic? Casey asked me and I still showed up? He paid for my ticket…” She trails off, sadness wrapped around her words.

“So come with me,” he blurts. He had no plans to even go to the dance, not interested in wasting his cash for something so stupid. Mindy had been shocked when he’d told her this, exclaiming how it was his _senior year, Danny_ ; did that mean _nothing_ to him? And it didn’t really when he could save that money for college application fees, but she was so sad and he loved her so much. And that’s all it really was.

“I’ll pay for a new ticket. Forget that dope. Come with me. And, I mean, Peter and Morgan and the rest of those losers. Come with me- us. It’ll be great.”

Her eyes start to grow bigger and a big, excited smile break out across her face, “Oh my God, Danny, yes, thank you.”

She reaches across the console to give him a hug. The angle is awkward, but he buries his face into her neck, embarrassed. He’d never meant to ask, but it felt so right as soon as he said it. Immediately he pictured the two of them entering the dance, holding hands and dancing slowly to the music, finally kissing her underneath the tacky mood lighting. He had it so bad.

They pull away awkwardly but she stays in the car, lingering. They discuss the plans for tomorrow, making little jokes. She’s wearing a red dress and he is given strict instructions to buy a corresponding tie. She doesn’t mention a corsage and Danny doesn’t know if that’s exclusively for prom or all dances. He’s too embarrassed to ask, she’ll be mirthless with him either way. She giggles so he smiles and they stare at each other for a second too long.

He still doesn’t want her to leave and the mood starts to shift, sparking with anticipation. Her hand starts to fumble with the seatbelt, so he says the first thing he can think of.

“Remember when we met?” he blurts.

She gives him a quizzical look but doesn’t question it. “Yeah. We were in the same kindergarten class and you tattle-taled on me to Ms. Moore for stealing some girl’s sixty-four pack of crayons, you jerk.” She sighs dramatically, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, “I was going to make the sickest picture of a unicorn. And that’s when I knew we were destined to be enemies.

He jerks back, “Uh, no I didn’t even notice you until-“

“Wow, thanks, Danny.”

“ _I didn’t even notice you_ until Psych. Freshman year, remember? I didn’t even know you until then.”

“Sorry, Danny, but even though you were a total ass to me that entire semester, we met when Ms. Moore came over and was like, ‘oh, Mindy, by the way this jerk totally told on you’ and you kind of smiled at me and I had to get my agenda signed and then you never talked to me again.

“Jesus. I don’t even remember that. Like, I saw you in the halls and stuff-”

“Yeah, you better have. I only joined the math club in eighth grade for the recognition, you know.”

“I was just gonna say, you know, the first time I remember meeting you- you were wearing like these awful big, gold earrings and clunky bracelets and you were buzzing around, talking to everyone in the class and I was so nervous and jealous that you weren’t. You were so bright it hurt to look at you, you know?”

He didn’t mean to say that, he really didn’t. The beer did it right? The one swallow of beer he had tried?  He just wanted to reminisce a little, keep her in the car and keep her smiling.

“I mean, in a good way of course. The best way,” he coughs heavily.

“Yeah, I remember too,” eventually, she chimes in, saving him. “You were such an ass. You asked me if I ever shut up and I said it was good we were in psych so I could have a subject to record my observations of sociopaths. God, I was lame.”

He chuckles at that, “I mean, yeah. You were. It’s disgusting how close we are now. You’ve ruined me, Lahiri. I laugh at your awful jokes now.”

Suddenly, she lurches forward and wraps her arms around him again. “Thank you so much for tonight,” she mumbles quickly into his neck.

Before he can say anything or even register what she’s said, she starts to pull away and squeezes his hand one last time. She makes the move to open her door and to pull her hand away but Danny snatches it back last second.

He wants to ask if she really was going to kiss him at the party and if it was just a rebound from Casey and if she wanted to go on a date with him but. He doesn’t. Let’s go of her hand.

“Be good, okay? See ya tomorrow.”

***

**2:07 AM**

**From: Peter**

**u jerk, all of us decided that u better not hook up w mindy. none of us think u have the guts to do it but mindy’s drunk enough to try. neither of u deserve it either for ruining my parent’s carpet.**

**2:25 AM**

**From: Richie**

**Bro!! u ok? gettin late. I’ll try to wait up for you.**

**3:46 AM**

**From: Jeremy**

**Might be a little bit in love with Betsy. Please consult.**

**11:26 AM**

**From: Mindy**

**Still on for six?**

***

He asks his Ma to come with him to the mall to help him pick out a tie. She practically swoons, crooning, “Oh, Daniel! Who’s the lucky gal?”

He mumbles something incoherent and she just chuckles and smiles knowingly. She helps him pick out a tie and when he tries to pay for it, she muscles him out of the way.

“Not every day my Daniel asks for help, even from his old mother. Must be pretty important.”

He can feel his face flush violently and his mother chuckles.

“All I ask is that I get a nice picture, sweetheart.”

He grins and looks down, suddenly shy, “‘course, Ma.”

“Good boy. Now! What about a nice corsage!”

***

The rest of the time seems to drag on. He’s nervous, screws up a million times playing Mario Kart with Richie, who’s going to hold this over his head forever. He gets on a three-way call with Peter and Jeremy where they convince Jeremy, yes, Betsy is into him, just be a man about it. He doesn’t text Mindy all day.

He breaks down, arrives in front of the Lahiri house at 5:55, rings the doorbell, and greets her parents, shaking their hands firmly.

He hears Mindy crashing around upstairs, yelling that he’s early, and doesn’t he know how annoying that is?

But at 6:01 she comes traipsing down the stairs, looking gorgeous. Her hair’s all curled and she’s wearing a halter-top dress that hits right above the knee. He’s in one of Mindy’s awful romcom movies. Did he accidently stumble into the plot of _She’s All That_? He’s standing at the end of the stairs like a complete moron, his mouth dry, trying to stop his tongue from blurting out “Y-you look beautiful!” That’s too far.

Instead, he whistles appreciatively, “Min. You tryin’ to win homecoming queen?”

She hits his shoulder, “Please, Danny, they wouldn’t know what to do with all this. God, we watched the coronation yesterday at the game too. Do you ever pay attention?”

 _Yeah,_ he thinks, _to you._

Gag him, honestly. He’s such a shmuck.

***

 “Ugh, Danny! Help me use my chopsticks!”

“Ooh, Mindy! Let me show you! Later, I can even show you how to tie them up in your hair-“

“Uhm, no thanks, Morgan. Danny can show me.”

He chuckles and maneuvers her hands around the chopsticks and helps her pick up some rice.

“See? You’re a natural.”

Her smile is blinding.

Betsy and Jeremy are painfully polite to each other. Jeremy confessed earlier that he and Betsy made out last night, but then got a text from her claiming the whole thing was a huge mistake. (“Huge mistake?” he whined. “I think I was above par. Peter, what does this _mean_?”)

Morgan and Tamra are disgustingly cute together. She was shocked when Morgan paid for her bill without question and rewarded him by wrapping her arms around him, whispering in his ear. That wasn’t as cute.

Peter snuck in some tequila and everyone was discreetly trying to pass the bottle underneath the table. Danny felt his heart start to swell and he could hear Jeremy in his head asking if he was like the Grinch and had he found the true meaning of Christmas too?  But there was no other way to explain it. He felt too big for his skin and couldn’t help but grin down at his sushi. This is where he wanted to be and he felt lucky for it.  

Underneath the table, Mindy hooks her leg around his. He looks up from his stir-fry startled but she’s leaning across the table trying to hit Morgan.

“Morgan! Shut up, you have never been bra shopping with me, how do you know my size?”

***

They go to the dance and it’s everything Danny expected: the gym is the same except the lights are out and it’s packed with sweaty teenagers trying to grind on each other.

“Disgusting,” he mutters. “We’re like animals.”

“This is the modern teenage love story, Danny. Get with the times!” Mindy shouts and starts dancing to whatever remix is playing.

He thinks about going to go get some punch and wait on the sidelines but Mindy’s jumping and twirling and their group of friends surround her. He doesn’t want to be lame tonight. He doesn’t want to be called an old man anymore. He joins them on the dance floor and twirls Mindy and Betsy, tangos with Peter, grinds on Morgan, has a good time.

Eventually though, Mindy pulls him away from the center of the floor and off into the courtyard. The student council did a good job; it looks exactly like a teen romcom. He tells this to Mindy who flushes with pride. They strung up fairy lights throughout the trees, flushed out the smell of cigarettes, and planted a bunch of flowers. It feels very _Another Cinderella Story._ God, how does he even get that reference?

The two of them are almost completely alone outside, standing too close to each other. He doesn’t know when she placed herself right underneath his chin, forcing him to look down to see her, but when he looks into her eyes, he feels dazed.She’s wearing his clothes again, this time his wool jacket **.** He decides to be brave and fingers the edge of the coat to draw her in even more. He decides he really, really likes her eyes. His eyes are practically black, but hers are a real shade of brown, they remind of fall and cinnamon, something warm and familiar, they’re tilting heads and-

“Oh! Shit!” He jerks back and they’re both startled back into reality. He’s such a dope, he completely ruined the freakin’ moment. “I-uh. I got you this.” He bends down and Mindy’s breath catches and he flushes. Instead, he reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out a corsage, pink roses, slightly crushed. He’d taken it out of the box earlier and shoved it into his coat jacket, completely forgotten. He spent twenty-five dollars on the frigging thing though; she definitely needed to at least appreciate it.

“Oh. Uh. Crap, I forgot about it but, uh, I didn’t know if it was only a prom thing? Or if you were even supposed to take those to prom, but. Just something to remember the night by, I guess. Or not, if you, like, decide you had an awful time.” He thrusts the corsage at her awkwardly and trying not to burst with embarrassment.  

She’s looking down in his hands, fingering the rose petals softly, and when she looks up to beam at him, a hundred watts, he feels himself flush. “Danny. It’s beautiful. Thank you so much, this has been the best night. Much better than spending the night with Casey.”

She wraps him in a hug and he feels like a balloon, his stomach swollen and ready to burst, take him flying away. She’s the only thing keeping him grounded. Eventually, they disentangle and he gently pulls the strap over her wrist and they both spend a second admiring it. She looks up again, smiles, and something shifts in the air.

There’s a second in the midst of their weird intimate eye contact where Danny gets it: this is where you kiss her. There could be other chances but something about here and now seemed like his best shot. She tilts her head further upwards and Danny’s eyes start to flutter shut. But, damn him if he can ever let himself have nice things.

“Min. Were you gonna kiss me back there? The party?” He wants to regret the words, rewind ten seconds so he can just kiss her and not need to talk about his feelings. But he doesn’t regret the, just grabs her hand and squeezes it quickly. He counts to five, afraid that this moment will never pass; that someone clicked the pause button on his life and he’ll spend the rest of his life in perpetual motion, falling.

“Yes,” she breathes.

“Was it- was it because you just broke up with Casey?”

“I mean, - yeah.” She stutters, “Wait, shit, I mean, no. No.” She takes a deep breath and he stays silent, giving her room to explain.

“Okay, you can’t get mad, okay? Casey- he would have done everything you did yesterday. He would have taken me from the football game and held my hair back when I threw up and told me I looked beautiful, even with crusty vomit in my hair. He’s a really good guy.”

Danny sucks in a deep breath. Like, what? Is he just some stand-in for Casey, like if she blurs her vision, he could do instead. His grip on her hand loosens and he starts to pull one foot behind him, trying to imagine how he can save face. She registers the look on his face and her eyes widen before she starts.

“But! Danny, listen, there’s a but. That means you’re a good guy too. But you’re more than that Danny, you’re the best. Like, if Casey and I hadn’t dated and he had done all of those things for me, I wouldn’t have wanted to kiss him. I wanted to kiss you because you were there and you were you.”

Danny actually startles. They kept having these moments filled with the idea of _something_ and each time he’d felt a crackle in the air, but concrete settles in his chest now. If suddenly a nuclear Warcraft starts spinning above them or Peter stumbled out, choking, he wouldn’t even notice. All he knows: this is his moment.

“And, okay, for the record: I would have totally kissed you except I was drunk, I just broke up with Casey, and I threw up in your lap, which, humiliating. But. I would. I want to.”

***

Danny lost his virginity to Christina his junior year. They’d been going out for four months and one day she just decided. He was a total wreck about it too. She’d mentioned in passing, “What do you think about having sex? With me?”

And then she didn’t even mention it for a week, like, _what?_ Was Danny supposed to be out getting condoms? Did he need to go for more runs to up his endurance? Was that Christina hinting that he needed to take charge? He had no idea. He didn’t know if he was supposed to ask.

(It turns out she’d planned the whole thing. Her parents were going out of town for the weekend and he was going to say he was spending the night at Jeremy’s. She was on the pill and had plenty of condoms ready. It’s not a bad memory. But looking back every time he thought about Christina he’d feel that same overwhelming, heart stopping anxiety until all the good parts of their time together were shadowed by that constant, nagging fear he’d get around her.)

Kissing Mindy was different. Everything was different.

He tugs on her jacket again and pulls her back to his arms like she was before **.** For a second they’re just standing there, eyes closed, breathing. And then Danny brings their lips together, just brushes them and. He’s done. He brings his lips over hers again and her mouth is already open pressing kisses against him. Jesus. He’s moves on instinct, wraps his arms around her, tries to get her as close as possible. It’s all natural, there’s a flow, and Danny doesn’t even think about Christina.

He thinks about Mindy’s red lipstick and how he’ll be covered in it when they break apart. He thinks about how breathless she sounds and how sharply she breathes in when he moves his hands and cups her face gently. He thinks about how he doesn’t feel embarrassed or nervous or scared. He kisses Mindy Lahiri and he’s happy and sometimes Danny’s afraid he’s never been happy. He’d just forced himself to smile all his life and denied himself again and again, but he knows now. It was the same feeling from the restaurant, the way he felt too big for the world and everything turned to light around him. He was happy.   

“Min,” he breathes, forcing himself to pull away, “I don’t-I am really, really enjoying kissing you, okay? But, uh. I like you. And you like me, right?”

He forces her to make eye contact, suddenly afraid that maybe he misread the signals, that this was all a fluke or a dream. But she purses her lips and nods seriously.

“Okay. Okay, good,” he continues, breathless, “Because, you know, I like you so much, I. I can’t be a rebound. You just broke up with Casey, _yesterday._ And I love you, and I can’t lose you.”

He hears Mindy suck in a breath, “You love me?”

He mumbles, but still forces himself to make eye contact, “I mean, you’re my best friend. ‘Course, Min.”

She smiles and makes the move to reach up to his lips again but he stops her. It’s so unfair that he has to be the reasonable one.

“Min, you were into Casey yesterday. You’ve got to still have feelings for him. We can’t do this until…until that part of your life is over.”

Her lips curl into a pout and Danny feels his resolve melting.

“God, Danny, we’re seventeen years old! Why can’t we make reckless decisions and just make out for the rest of the night and _then_ I can start to get over Casey?”

Damn it. He’s smiling and he doesn’t want to be smiling because he doesn’t want to get hurt but he feels the corner of his lips turning up and she does the same.

“Yeah, okay,” he hears himself saying, “Just tonight. Just…just because it’s you and it’s homecoming and because….just because.”

She’s grinning ear to ear and when she brings her lips up to his their teeth clack at the contact. His ears are buzzing and, fuck, he thinks he hears Peter clapping loudly behind them. But he can ignore everything except for the feeling of Mindy’s lips and the way she smells like vanilla and how warm and right she is here.

He gets it could end badly. He really gets it and doesn’t think Mindy does, but right now he can picture them anywhere. He gets to have her for now and that has to be enough.

And for now she’s here with him, and later, he’ll drop her off and, maybe in a couple weeks she can come meet his Ma, he’ll let her inside his house. Help her study for Physics, but pepper her with kisses in between. Everyone at lunch will give them hell but he’ll still firmly grasp her hand and smile around his bite of sandwich. Maybe they could take a day trip, anywhere. Pictures her with her heart shaped sunglasses, hand hanging out in the wind, her hand laced with his. Kisses that burn, the way she tastes like cinnamon.

If he’s with her, he thinks, sure. Anywhere is good.

**Author's Note:**

> it's funny bc mindy says "i hate cliches danny!!" but this entire fic is ONE HUGE CLICHE
> 
> hmu with some criticism so i can write 6k without wanting to set myself on fire  
> i've read and reread this fic so many times i have no idea if it's good anymore


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